The Wizards play the Thunder at 8 pm tonight in Oklahoma City. I’ll be Twittering and perhaps chatting a bit on ESPN’s Daily Dime.
We’ll see if the Wiz have the consistency, energy and focus it takes to win. Word out of Oklahoma is that the Thunder practiced their zone offense at shoot-around today.
Watch out for that Thabo Sefolosha cat. His on-ball defense is something to get excited about … when not playing the Wizards, obviously. It won’t be easy for Mike Miller or Caron Butler, whomever Thabo is guarding. That means … no dribbling around and trying to force things, Caron.
Brendan Haywood will also being going against his old buddy, Etan ‘The Poet’ Thomas. Wizards Insider has more on the game’s matchup.
Finally, it’s Zero vs. Zero tonight, as my fellow ESPN TrueHoop Network blog, Daily Thunder, points out. Russell Westbrook vs. Gilbert Arenas … hopefully it will be fun to watch (and Gil’s not throwing up stink bombs from deep).
Typical scene from modern day Oklahoma where the dust bowl continues.
Started to watch the beginning of the Wizards-Thunder game last night…but fell asleep, bloggers need naps too. I’d intended on waking up at some point and watching from the start…..but then thought, am I really missing anything?
So, the game blog picks at the end of the 2nd quarter. ———————————-
Why do they play “Whomp, There It Is!” when good things happen at OKC games? (well, when Russell Westbrook does good things) Bet that’s the only hip-hop song (wait, is that song considered hip-hop?) that’s “safe” for the white people in Oklahoma.
As soon as I turn the game on, you got 10-0 Thunder runs, Wizards matador defense, Russell Westbrook dunks…..36-35 OKC.
Of course, the Thunder are in a competition with the Wiz to see who can turn the ball over more.
The Wizards ended their eight game losing streak and much of the credit goes to the effort of Dominic McGuire (although my game ball would still go to Antawn Jamison). You can check the Wizards-Thunder game blog over at Bullets Forever, but as far as Dominic McGuire aka The Taser, aka The Cleaner, is concerned, the highlight clip below speaks for itself.
Web Hits:
[Wizards Insider]
The more I see McGuire, the more he reminds of Ruben Patterson (on the court) except that he’s a better passer.
[Washington Times]
The Wizards were not in a celebratory mood after raising their record to 5-23. They seemed more relieved than anything, knowing a loss at home to the Thunder (3-28) would have been the lowest point yet in a season of lows.
Jeff from CelticsBlog.com is doing the grunt work to put together a comprehensive NBA preview from bloggers ’round the ‘sphere. The Atlantic Division Preview was first, the Southwest Division was second, the Central Division was third, and now the Northwest Division is out. Here are the highlights from the participating bloggers for each team, click on the blog links to see the full team preview:
Denver Nuggets
[Pickaxe and Roll] I think there are different answers depending on whether you are talking about the goals of management or the goals of the players. Management has clearly been geared towards the future. The Camby trade revolved around future cap flexibility. They traded their first round pick for a future first round pick. Older players Camby and Najera have been sent packing in exchange for younger players. Management would never admit it, nor should they, but I do not think they expect anything other than another first round exit at best from this squad. Prediction: 47-35
[The Nugg Doctor] The goal for this team is to not be content just making the playoffs, but to finally advance in the postseason. For five straight seasons the Nuggets have been one of only four teams in the league to make the playoffs in said consecutive years and are the only team to have not made it to the conference semis. Prediction: 44-38
